Hepburn was a cosmopolitan from birth as her father was an English banker and her mother a Dutch baroness. In the movies she appeared as a delicate adolescent, a look which remained until her last movie Always directed by Steven Spielberg. Her career as actress began in the English cinema and after having been selected for the Broadway musical "Gigi" she debuted in Hollywood in 1953. With Roman Holiday she won an oscar; her favorite genres were the comedies like Sabrina or Love in the Afternoon. At the end of the sixties she retired from Hollywood but appeared from time on the set for a few films. From 1988 on she worked also for UNICEF.
Always (1989): $1,000,000
Bloodline (1979): $1,000,000 + % of gross
Robin and Marian (1976): $1,000,000
Wait Until Dark (1967): $750,000 +10% of profits
Two for the Road (1967): $750,000
How to Steal a Million (1966): $750,000
My Fair Lady (1964): $1.1 million
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961): $750,000
The Unforgiven (1960): $200,000
The Nun's Story (1959): $250,000 + 10% of gross
Funny Face (1957): $150,000
Sabrina (1954): $15,000
Roman Holiday (1953): $12,500
Was first choice for the lead in A Taste of Honey. Ranked #50 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Mother of Sean H. Ferrer, with first husband, Mel Ferrer. Son, Luca Dotti (b. 8 February 1970), with second husband, Dr. Andrea Dotti. Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world. [1990] After Wait Until Dark was offered the leads in 40 Carats, Nicholas and Alexandra and The Turning Point but decided to stay in retirement and raise her sons. Interred in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland. Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#8). [1995] Turned down the film Gigi after creating the character in the Broadway non musical play. Everyone remembers when Marilyn Monroe serenaded President John F. Kennedy on his birthday in 1962. What is often forgotten is that Audrey Hepburn sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President" to JFK for his final birthday in 1963. Had a breed of tulip named after her in 1990. Died on January 20, 1993, the 67th birthday of Patricia Neal. They starred together in Breakfast at Tiffany's. She won the 1953 Best Actress Academy Award for Roman Holiday. On March 25th, 1954, she accepted the award from the much revered Academy president Jean Hersholt. After accepting the award, Audrey kissed him smack on the mouth, instead of the cheek, in her excitement. Minutes after accepting her 1953 Oscar, Audrey realized that she'd misplaced it. Turning quickly on the steps of the Center Theater in New York, she raced back to the ladies' room, retrieved the award, and was ready to pose for photographs. Christened simply Audrey Kathleen Ruston, her mother Baroness Ella Van Heemstra temporarily changed the actress' name from Audrey to Edda during the war, feeling that "Audrey" might indicate her British roots too strongly. During the war, being English in occupied Holland was not an asset; it could have attracted the attention of the occupying German forces and resulted in confinement or even deportation. After the war, her father, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, found documents about his ancestors, some of whom bore the name Hepburn. This is when he added it to his name, which caused her daughter to have to legally add Hepburn to her name as well, thus Audrey Kathleen Hepburn-Ruston. Was fluent in English, Spanish, French, Dutch/Flemish and Italian. Was briefly considered for the main role in Cleopatra but the part went to Elizabeth Taylor She confessed to eating tulip bulbs and tried to bake grass into bread during the hard days of World War II. Audrey felt that she was miscast as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's although it was one of her most popular roles. Was trained as a dental assistant before making it big. Broke her back during filming of a horse-riding scene in _Unforgiven, The (1960)_ Henry Mancini said of her: "'Moon River' was written for her. No one else had ever understood it so completely. There have been more than a thousand versions of 'Moon River', but hers is inquestionably the greatest". Turned down a role in the film The Diary of Anne Frank because, as a young girl in Holland during the war, she had witnessed Nazi soldiers publicly executing people in the streets and herding Jews onto railroad cars to be sent to the death camps. She said that participating in the film would bring back too many painful memories for her. Like Humphrey Bogart, Hepburn also starred in five of the movies listed by American Film Institute in its Top 100 U.S. love stories (2002). They are Roman Holiday, ranked #4 on the list, Sabrina ranked #54, which co-starred Bogart, My Fair Lady ranked #12, Two for the Road at #57 and Breakfast at Tiffany's #61. During World War II, 16-year-old Audrey was a volunteer nurse in a Dutch hospital. During the battle of Arnhem, Hepburn's hospital received many wounded Allied soldiers. One of the injured soldiers young Audrey helped nurse back to health was a young British paratrooper - and future director - named Terence Young. More than 20 years later, Young directed Hepburn in Wait Until Dark. Measurements: 34A-20-34 (as recorded in 1953), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) In 1954, she was presented with her Best Actress Oscar for Roman Holiday by Jean Hersholt. In 1993, she was posthumously awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. In Arnhem, Holland, during the Second World War, she worked with the Dutch Underground, giving ballet performances to collect donations for the anti-Nazi effort. Presented the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards four times (in 1955, 1960, 1966, and 1975) more than any other actress. Told People Magazine that she was very self-conscious about her size-10 feet. She was voted the 21st Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. In 1993 she became the thirteenth performer to win the Triple Crown of Acting. Oscar - Best Actress for Roman Holiday, Tony for Best Actress in a Play for Ondine (1954), and Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming for Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn. Was fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy's muse, who dressed her for the films Sabrina, Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, Breakfast at Tiffany's, _Paris - When It Sizzles (1964)_ , How to Steal a Million, Charade, and Love Among Thieves. In 1996, the British magazine Harpers & Queen conducted a pool to find the most fascinating women of our time. She was in the number one spot. As of 2005, she is one of only nine performers to win an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy Award. She was of Belgian, Dutch, English and Irish descent. Followed winning the Academy Award for Roman Holiday with winning Broadway's 1954 Tony Award as Best Actress (Dramatic) for "Ondine." Voted #1 in TheAge.com's Top 100: Natural Beauties of all time. She owned a Yorkshire Terrier called "Mr. Famous". She was voted the 18th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine. Was named #3 on The American Film Institute's 50 Greatest Screen Legends Her biggest film regret was not getting the Anne Bancroft role in The Turning Point. "That was the one film", she later admitted, "that got away from me." Is portrayed by Jennifer Love Hewitt in The Audrey Hepburn Story When she failed to receive an Academy Award-nomination for her role as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Katharine Hepburn wired her with a message of encouragement: "Don't worry about it. You'll get it one day for a part that doesn't rate it." Ironically, when Audrey's next (and last) nomination came for Wait Until Dark in 1967, Hepburn beat her in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - in a part that arguably didn't rate it. Her character in Funny Face was inspired by Suzy Parker, who made a fashionable cameo appearance in the film (her first film) in the "Think Pink" sequence. According to her biography, "Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait", she made a vow to herself never to exceed 103 pounds. With the exception of her pregnancies, she succeeded. Turned down the title role in Gigi to make Funny Face. Ironically, her agent initially rejected the film, but Hepburn overrode the decision after reading the script. Her mother, Baroness Ella Van Heemstra, makes a cameo appearance as a sidewalk café patron, and her Yorkshire terrier "Mr. Famous" appears as the dog in the basket during the "Anna Karenina" train shot. Hepburn did not want to be separated from husband Mel Ferrer, so filming of the Paris scenes was timed to coincide with Ferrer's filming of Paris Does Strange Things. Paris' unseasonably rainy weather had to be worked into the script, particularly during the balloons photo shoot scene. During filming of the Paris scenes, much of the crew and cast were on edge because of riots and political violence that were gripping the city. The soggy weather played havoc with the shooting of the wedding dress dance scene. Both Fred Astaire and Hepburn were continually slipping in the muddy and slippery grass. In Funny Face, she was lucky enough to sing several songs. Her next full musical, _My Fair Lady (1964)_ , saw her voice overdubbed by Marni Nixon, much to her disappointment. The face portrait unveiled in the darkroom scene was photographed by Richard Avedon. The film was shot back-to-back with _Love in the Afternoon (1957)_ . According to director William Friedkin, Audrey was Warner Bros. first choice for the role of Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist after her box-office successes with the studio's The Nun's Story, My Fair Lady and Wait Until Dark. She would only agree to star if the film were made in Rome. Both Friedkin and writer William Peter Blatty rejected the proposal. Her performance as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's is ranked #32 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). Asked for the part of Emma Jacklin in The Turning Point but Anne Bancroft had already been cast in the role. Hepburn was diagnosed with appendiceal cancer in 1992 (not colon cancer, as it is often mistakenly called). The cancer spread into the lining of her small intestine. She had one foot of intestine removed in surgery and went through chemotherapy, but in a second surgery it was decided that the cancer had spread too far and could not be treated. Lived together with Robert Wolders in the final years of her life. The US Postal Service issued a 37 cent commemorative stamp honoring her as a Hollywood legend and humanitarian (2003). Her famous "little black dress" from Breakfast at Tiffany's, designed by Hubert de Givenchy, was sold at a Christie's auction for approximately $920,000 (5 December 2006). Was voted "most beautiful woman of all time" by the readers of "New Woman" magazine (2006). Godmother of Victoria Brynner daughter of Doris Kleiner and Yul Brynner. Saved the life of her friend Capucine (who attempted suicide on several occasions). In Italy, she was almost exclusively dubbed by Maria Pia Di Meo, except in her first in her first two films (Roman Holiday (Vacanze Romane) and Sabrina) and in Green Mansions (Verdi dimore) where she was dubbed by the talented Fiorella Betti. Audrey was presented with her 1953 Best Actress Oscar for "Roman Holiday" by actor and humanitarian Jean Hersholt. Forty years later, in 1993, she would posthumously receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her work with UNICEF. As of 2007, she and Katharine Hepburn are the only "Best Actress" Oscar-winners to share a last name. Of course, they are not related.